Center for Democracy in the Americas

The US can make some important contributions by acknowledging that Cuba's reforms are real and by ensuring Cubans are getting the cash and credit they need to make use of the newfound freedom to start small businesses.

While the United States likes to impose embargoes, it doesn't really like being subject to them. So it's worth spending a moment considering what happens when the sanctions shoe is on the other foot.

Our policy under Obama boils down to this: engagement is for the North Koreans (the guys with nuclear weapons), but we'll continue to isolate America from Cuba (whose army, the CIA says, lacks replacement parts and sufficient fuel).

Former Reagan Administration Secretary of Treasury and Secretary of State George Shultz thinks that the US embargo against Cuba should "simply be lifted."